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The Clean Energy for All European Package was presented by the European Commission in November 2016. Nearly two years later, after much debate, a final agreement was reached on the recast Renewable Energy Directive, the review of the Energy Efficiency Directive and on the Governance Regulation.

Throughout the process, EGEC has been advocating for ambitious objectives and a binding framework, fit for a greater use of geothermal energy in Europe. By collecting inputs from the European geothermal industry, analysing the proposals from the European institutions and providing inputs and expertise, EGEC contributed to increasing the ambition of the proposed package, which – burdened by the 2014 Council conclusions – was far from a suitable framework to move the European energy system closer to 100% renewable energy.

The agreement reached on the legislative texts for Renewables, Energy efficiency and Governance introduces key signals that, while not extremely ambitious or even aligned with the objective of the Paris Agreement on climate change, allow for the renewable energy industry to grow. It gives room for the greater emergence of geothermal energy with rules for support schemes that include the possibility to support differently different energy sources and to have specific schemes for innovative technologies.

In terms of ambition, the European Union is aiming for a share of renewable energy of at least 32% in 2030, alongside a 32.5% improvement in energy efficiency compared to a baseline. Altogether, these targets should put the EU on track to overshoot its 40% greenhouse gas emission reduction objective (compared to 1990).

Unlike the 2020 framework however, these EU targets do not translate into national ones. Member States will have to comply to the Governance framework that was also agreed upon, proposing National Energy and Climate Plans that lay out their national contributions to the EU objectives (which should amount to meeting the EU targets when all the Member States contributions are aggregated).

To increase the ambition of the 2030 framework, and ensure it is fit for the development of geothermal energy, EGEC has notably collaborated with other associations of the renewable energy sector: